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I totally agree. And I think these “reflection” ideas are meant to be used to improve yourself; not to shut up other people.

I consider it an invitation and an opportunity. I do buy it in that sense because over time it has proven itself to be true... for me. If it doesn't seem to be true in a particular instance, rather than write if off as wrong, I allow the possibility that maybe I just didn't discover the connection... yet. The way I approach it is this - When something elicits reactivity in me, I turn not toward the thing that I "don't like" so much but toward what I am feeling - in my body, in the inner and outer words and stories, the feelings, memories, expectations, and so forth. Almost invariably, I make discoveries that show me something about myself. I find a lot of value in that process. YMMV

• HAPPY NEW YEAR OF THE FIRE HORSE !!! • May New Year's blessings and good karma come to you with freedom, speed, high intensity, and great and blissful duration!

There is that saying that if there is something you don't like then its a reflection of what's in you, or a problem of yours. Well I don't quite buy that huge generalization, granted it may be true in some cases but not in others... hells bells does your introspective head hurt ?

Reality is just reality. The world is just doing it's thing. Your "suffering" is created by your resistance to accepting the reality of this moment. The "deep meaning of things" in this case is having the Wisdom to see and rest in the Tao, or "emptiness". Being present with reality as it is now is "alignment" with the Tao. The idea that what you like is "dharma", and what you don't like is "adharma" only exists in your mind. The suffering of attachment or aversion to what is happening is entirely yours. It is an entirely relative mental construct. A terrorist might decide that blowing up a marketplace full of women and children to resist his current government or religious leadership is a good thing. Another might think that action is an unspeakable horror. Invading foreign nations, fighting world wars, genetic engineering - these are all things that have been called good OR bad depending on the person who observes. This doesn't mean we can't work to be kind, or support causes that bring peace and harmony to the world, but having some wisdom about the nature of reality CAN mean that we don't get lost in our dialog about attachment or aversion to the outcomes. It is folly to think that world will ever be entirely peaceful, or meet our personal requirements for what is "perfect". The world has always been like this, and always will be.

Hi DanC, Sorry to take so long to reply. I've been traveling a lot between CT and MA since I got back from Hong Kong (and my family's ancestral village of Ping Shan) in mid-December. I'll be posting some Youtube videos of some martial form demonstrations that I had videotaped at the Tang Family Ancestral temple (Yang Tai Chi, Chen Tai Chi, and Liu He Ba Fa). Answer: Yes, I have a book on both Flying Phoenix and I have a book on the TTP-31 Basic Meditations, which is the onlly level that can be safely. I have been working off and on for years on the FP Qigong book, and hope to have it done sometime late this year. The TTP-31 Book is actually much easier to write because (A) the instructions are very straight forward and can be easily illustrated and (B) I've been doing Tao Tan Pai the longest of all the arts that I preserve--since 1974. Thank you and all fellow FP practitioners for your patience. Happy New Year of the Fire Horse!! --and may it speed me to complete these worthy book projects! Sifu Terry https://taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html https://terencedunn.substack.com/

Lol, too true. I never talked to Maddie again after she did that with me.

It´s good to use our own irritations as an investigative tool to bring our own less-than-enlightened qualities to awareness. Not so good -- outside of very special circumstances -- to use other people´s irritations to suggest they have a problem. Most people don't take kindly to that maneuver.

On a tangent about judgement; I have to say that to me Master Jesus hit the nail on the head when He said to a gathering that was getting ready to stone a woman to death, "let any among you without sin cast the first stone", and none could.

worse still is when some individual sets themselves up as such an adviser ... a sort of 'judgmental guru ' and also individuals adopting it to project out onto others ; 'would be Louise Hay's' ; to some unfortunate ; ''Oh, you stubbed your toe ? Why are you afraid of moving forward ? '' I want to shove their judgmental little faces in it ! I remember once , being in our amenities block , we were flooded in , I had a double middle ear infection - terrible and no medication . This New Age bitch walks in and asks what is wrong with me ( as I am obviously in a great deal of pain and hanging on to a sink to even be able to stand up ) I tell her , does she offer assistance , pain relief she might have at home ... any thing even remotely kind ? NO ; '' OH really ( and even in a smarmy , I am smart , look what I know about , voice ) ... what is it you dont want to hear then ?'' Me '' I will tell you what I dont want to hear , some inconsiderate new age, self appointed 'guru' scoring points on my pain and suffering so they can appear clever .' I read once where someone asked their Rabbi about this ; if an accident or sickness might carry a special message for you . The Rabbi said , of course it can , God works in all sorts of ways . The person protested a bit and explained some things , like I mentioned above . The Rabbi was ; '' Wait a minute , I didnt understand you , what I said was true but are you saying some people are interpreting the meaning and significance of these for others ? What ! That's outrageous ! How dare anyone try to interpret or give the meaning to someone else about God's particular and private dealings with them ! ' That is between you and God ! That isnt even the job of a Rabbi ! ''

Also a little trailer I tried to put together - lmk what you think

The Kindle version is releasing tomorrow. I've provided a few chapters as a preview here - https://buy.bookfunnel.com/t1sa8audaa (click on "READ a sample in your browser). All support is much appreciated. Best, Dwai

Person steve has a similar experience, that’s a very good way to describe how I’ve used qigong over the years. The practices are there when I need them, predictable and reliable.

shhhhhh its the horse whisperer.

H!

Springforest includes visualization does it not? That in itself can be somewhat ungrounding. I would just drop the spring forest practices until this issue is resolved and temporarily focus on getting the grounding sorted first. Consider if maybe you need some psychological work/therapy to help with this issue. My observation has been that for some people energetic solutions aren't always sufficient if the imbalances are caused by strong underlying psychological issues. Then it is often necessary to always work in a more psychological way. Talk therapy, bodywork or more self enquiry types of practices or nervous system regulation practices. Human connection is often needed to make things move. Say for example that the reason you got ungrounded initially was because childhood trauma made you dissociate from the body or have a fight response in your nervous system (which is also ungrounding). If you then start doing grounding techniques that may sometimes be sufficient and can even help resolve the trauma but it may also be insufficient because the wounded parts of you simply refuses to let go of its protective strategies just because you do exercises that bring energy down. Those parts of you may not feel safe enough to allow you to get back into the body unless they feel more safe. And that feeling of safety may require talking to another person. Or at least looking directly at the psychological knot causing the ungroundedness. Not saying this is the case but I think it is worth checking in with yourself about. If you want to get the grounding sorted you could do something like this: Do an internal martial art like Tai Chi. It is very grounding. It both gets you deeply in contact with your feet and your stability on the ground and with your dan tien. Do standing meditation. I find it to be supremely grounding. Do deep earth pulsing. A very simple and gentle grounding qigong you can find instructions for on YouTube. Do Damo Mitchells anchoring the breath practice. It is meant to really anchor your awareness and energy and breath in the dan tien. Which grounds you. He has two videos on YouTube with instructions. Maybe add some squats and walks in the forrest. Maybe do walking meditation. You could also maybe add some more general practices like the eight brocades and five animals. They are not especially grounding but more overall balancing (which also means somewhat grounding). Just so not everything you do is super earth focused but a bit more "even". You could also consider trying Primordial Qigong/Wuji Gong/Tai Chi for Enlightenment (different teachers have different names for it). I find Primordial to be both extremely grounding while also gradually awakening higher energy centers. It kinda awakens one to deep witnessing states and more "heavenly" aspects of practice while integrating that into the body and into life instantly.

Qigong needs to "hit the spot." Real life examples from my experience. Person A. An accomplished taiji practitioner for many years. Disciplined, dedicated, talented, competitive. Had a falling out with the teacher. Stopped practicing taiji altogether, which at the time struck me as cutting off her nose to spite her face. Found a different teacher, who only teaches qigong, meditation and a bit of related subjects ("feng shui light," very light.) A few years down the road, completely satisfied with her practice. I don't know what she's doing with the competitive side of her personality, but the rest of it has just flown naturally into the new practice. Person B. Has never been interested in anything Asian, and physical engagement with movement has been limited to an occasional game of tennis. An accomplished professional (medical doctor). Started having problems with her lower back later in life, which turned severe. Had surgery which made things worse. Lived in nonstop pain for several years. Was shown a few qigong exercises by a friend. Reluctantly gave it a try, mostly to humor the friend. Being also a naturally disciplined person, decided to give it a trial period of some length. Until then anything and everything she tried made things only worse, but this time at first she noticed her back doesn't feel worse from qigong, then, that it feels a bit better. Chalked it up to placebo yet kept practicing. Three years later, still practices, her back feels 90% better, she's able to go on long hikes now and is off pain medication. Still looking for an allopathic explanation. Person C. An accomplished taiji practitioner, with all-around taoist interests for many years. Has been taught many qigongs by her great teacher and at various workshops and seminars by other masters. Taught qigong to various audiences. Profoundly dislikes practicing it. Why? She has never been able to answer this question. She absolutely loves taiji and many taoist practices, she's an experienced meditator, and there was a time she would sit in full lotus for two hours with reverse breathing going on autopilot if her practice required it. Qigong? Please... no qigong. Why? Who knows. Doesn't hit the spot.

You know, I think artists who write lyrics like this, and people who think and feel like this, are more often then not viewed.. just as an angel.

I've practiced qigong for about 20 years. One thing I've learned is that my expectations need to be realistic. Certainly there are benefits from the forms I practice but qigong has not proven to be a comprehensive and complete system for me. I practice both Shiba Luohangong and Ba Duan Jin and derive valuable and different benefits from each. I have also continued to practice internal Chinese martial arts over that period of time - taijiquan, xingyiquan, and baguazhang. While I no longer compete or train martially with others, these have found a valuable role in my physical, energetic, and mental health. Finally, perhaps most important to me is my meditation practice from a Tibetan tradition. While I do think it's important to stick with a practice for a long time to really probe its depth and potential, I don't know that each one of us can expect to find a single practice or system that does everything we are looking for. Some do and that is wonderful but it hasn't been that way for me. I also think that we need to listen to our body and mind and maintain some openness and flexibility as our needs can change over time.

Agreed. Especially since we had a gallop poll and everything!

Take it from a drifter, if you´ve been practicing the same system for two years and feel the benefits, you´re doing pretty darn great!

I think the system works on initiation system just like TM. Did you learn it yourself from video or books or a certified Falun dafa practitioner? Most initiation based systems don't work if you practice it from a book or video, you have to learn it from a certified practitioner. Yes you can feel some effects (due to exercises) but you won't have an installed wheel in ldt by learning it from books or video. When the certified practitioner initiates you just like some yogic kriya systems, you would have the wheel installed and feel the full effects of practice.